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Police Caught on Camera Hitting Teen

A group of police officers in Bridgeport, Connecticut, have been placed on administrative duty after they were caught on video apparently roughing up an 18-year-old man during an arrest and threatening his mother filming the violence to "get back or you're next." Roseanne Colletti reports. (Published Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017)

Several Bridgeport, Connecticut, police officers have been placed on administrative duty after video emerged appearing to show a teen pinned to the hood of a car while at least one officer repeatedly struck him in the face during an arrest.

The teen, Aaron Kearney, called police Friday night to report a minor traffic accident involving his car. Responding officers learned the 18-year-old had been driving with a suspended license. It's not clear from the video what led the traffic call to become physical.

Video footage captured by Kearney's mother shows the officers surrounding the teen and forcing him facedown onto the hood of a car.

At one point, an unidentified female officer appears to hit the side of his face with her hand while several officers hold him down. His mother can be heard pleading, "Don't hurt my son. Don't hurt my son."

"I know his nose was bleeding bad. I don't know if there were broken bones, but it looked severe that day," said Joe Grits, a close family friend and community activist, claiming the officers used excessive force and pulled the teen's hair.

Kearney's family says he has never had trouble with police before and has attended summits with Perez on improving community relations. They called the former captain of his high school football team a "good teen."